General Kiyani, former ISI head, takes over as chief

General Ashfaq Pervez Kiyani, who was promoted by Musharraf last month to general and appointed army chief-designate, is a native of Jhelum in the province of Punjab, an area famed for its soldiers. Kiyani, a graduate of a US military academy, joined the army in 1971.

As a lieutenant, Kiyani fought in the 1971 war against India. In 1988, he was deputy military secretary to Benazir Bhutto. In 2001, Kiyani served as the army's chief operational commander.

He oversaw troops during the standoff with India after the attack on the Indian parliament. Kiyani was then promoted to command the army's elite 10 Corps in Rawalpindi.

Kiyani was hand-picked by Musharraf to head the investigations into two failed assassination attempts on Musharraf in December 2003. The probe helped trace 11 people, including members of the armed forces, who were involved in the attacks.

Kiyani went on in 2004 to head the Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan's spy agency. He is the first spy chief to be appointed head of the army.

In March this year, when Musharraf first attempted to suspend former Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Kiyani was the only military officer at a meeting who did not speak out against the judge.

This gave rise to the perception that he is an independent-minded general.

In addition to tackling the raging militancy in Swat and the tribal areas in Pakistan, Kiyani will have to contend with the major political crisis in Pakistan.

"Pakistan army is under pressure. It is fighting a war for the existence and survival of the country," Musharraf said at the ceremony. "I have the confidence that the army will accept all these challenges and defeat the terrorists."